UMore Park_2009 CCASLA_award-submittal sm

1
Colorado ASLA Awards 2009
Category 2: Planning
Project Name: UMore Park: A Sustainable Master Planned Community
Project Location: City of Rosemount and Empire Township, Minnesota
Project Summary
The University of Minnesota is currently undertaking the largest new community development in Minnesota history on the UMore Park
property, a 5,000-acre site located 25 miles southeast of the Twin Cities. This development master plan transforms a Brownfield site and
mining operation into a sustainable community. The plan goes beyond LEED ND® to become the first of its kind to be based upon
comprehensive budgets for water, energy, carbon and wildlife, as well as metrics for community, economic and cultural factors.
Purpose of the Project
Suburban development surrounds this Brownfield site that has been nearly vacant since the University obtained it from the U.S. War
Department 60 years ago. With declining state funding, universities are turning to the monetization of their land assets to fund their
mission. University of Minnesota officials now seek to maximize and monetize the real estate value of the property in order to fund the
University’s endowment. The UMore Park Concept Master Plan creates the framework for a community of 30,000 residents with an equal
balance of job opportunities—a substantial development in Minnesota history. It will serve as a national model for how to plan for a
sustainable new community and hold the development accountable to meet high aspirations.
The plan communicates for the first time the intentions of the University to develop this property. The Board of University Regents
unanimously adopted the Concept Master Plan and a few short months afterwards used the plan to attract a gravel extraction company
partner. The Concept Master Plan is also used to attract future development partners, entice business incubation, encourage and inform
University student and faculty research and projects, and inform local and regional plans. The planning team advised the University on
alternative methods for managing the development process resulting in the University Board of Trustees considering the creation of a
wholly-owned development corporation. The landscape architecture team led the creation of a Pattern Book to guide the development of
the community over a long period of time. The Pattern Book detailed recommendations for the implementation and management of
community objectives such as neighborhood and block patterns, streetscape design, architectural design, energy and green building
initiatives, wildlife management and stormwater design.
Role and Responsibilities of the Landscape Architect
The client was initially seeking a development partner through an RFP process to undertake the pre-development phase on behalf of the
University. The landscape architects alternatively proposed to take on the role of advising the University. The landscape architect’s
leadership and collaboration provided the University three considerable advantages; 1) greater leveraging of the real estate development to
fund its academic mission, 2) education and preparation for the University to act as developer, and 3) retention of oversight of the
development ensured the University the highest integrity and adherence their principles. This approach represents a groundbreaking effort
on the part of a major educational institution in planning a new community and significantly advances the role of landscape architects in
large-scale planning and development efforts. The landscape architects directed a team of architects, planners, engineers, ecologists, market
analysts, attorneys, transportation specialists, and energy experts through the planning, design, organizational structuring, and financial
assessment.
The landscape architects faced major challenges in creating the master plan for this new community due in part to the challenges of the site
development as well as the University’s complex decision-making process. In the 60 years the University has owned the property, it has not
resolved two questions: Should the land be developed? And, if so, what should a prospective development plan entail? Within eight months
of beginning the project, the landscape architects led University officials through a decision-making process to determine the importance of
developing the property and the feasibility of creating a for-profit development entity. Within that time, the client and landscape architects
imagined 30 development scenarios and engaged one-thousand individuals and 215 different constituent groups in the evaluation of
alternatives; gaining support for the final concept master plan. The graphical exhibits and analyses produced were instrumental in helping
the public and the University form a vision for the new community and reach consensus surrounding a plan after only a few months of
effort.
Design Solutions and Other Unique Attributes
Valuable aggregate resources were identified throughout 70 percent of the property in early 2008, resulting in a decision to conduct gravel
mining operations that would drastically alter virtually the entire site. The landscape architects faced a unique problem of envisioning future
environmental conditions that would be created by the gravel mining activities. The extraction of aggregate resources on the 5,000-acre site
will span 50 years and will reshape the relatively flat terrain into a series of rolling hills and lakes of up to 70-feet in depth. The landscape
architect’s design solution included the creation of an end-use plan for developing the land following the completion of aggregate mining.
This information will guide the University’s planning for mining activities and provides instruction for contouring the land for future
development, including the creation of drainage patterns, wildlife corridors and scenic viewsheds. The grading plan for the property
provides for the preservation of existing forests, areas of high quality agricultural soils, wildlife corridors and the remains of iconic
structures on the property.
2
Significance
The UMore Park master plan addresses a broad range of sustainability elements in a comprehensive and holistic manner, providing a
national model for new communities. Thorough and clear documentation of the project approach and strategies in the Master Plan Book
and Pattern Book can serve as a guide to other developers, communities, and designers that wish to achieve similar goals as this project.
The plan emphasizes that in order to seek sustainability it is necessary to stretch beyond the highest green building and neighborhood
design standards and specifically ensure the following:
1) Alternative Transit: The creation of the UMore Park master plan induced the regional transportation authority in the Twin Cities to
consider extending a planned light rail line by approximately ten miles to service the site and to add three additional light rail stops to
serve the future community. In addition, regional bus rapid transit will serve the new community. Compact, mixed-use centers are
oriented around these future transit stations, promoting greater densities than could be traditionally supported without transit. The plan
also proposes an extensive bike and pedestrian circulation system and a community-wide system for neighborhood electric and human
transport vehicles.
2) Energy and Carbon: The UMore Park project provides the first known example in the United States of a new community creating an
energy and carbon budget and a comprehensive strategy for reducing energy use and carbon generation from the outset of the
development. Key features of the system include the generation of all of the electrical needs of the community on-site through clean and
renewable energy technologies such as wind power facilities, the incorporation of solar hot water photovoltaics in architectural design,
and a combined heat and power (CHP) plant fueled with biogas (fueled by on-site agricultural residue and sewage). Ground source heat
pumps (GSHPs) provide a more efficient heating and cooling system than traditional sources such as natural gas. This strategy seeks to
reduce the carbon footprint for commercial and residential uses to zero. At build-out, the new community will generate overall carbon
emissions representing only three percent of the emissions levels produced using traditional development and building practices.
3) Community Amenities: The community is organized into several interconnected, walkable neighborhoods. Each neighborhood locates
residents within convenient walking distance of a variety of amenities such as neighborhood schools and parks, shops and services,
places of worship, civic centers, daycare centers, places of higher education, libraries and learning centers, health and wellness centers,
hospitals and clinics, police stations, and community gardens. The community design and urban planning was evaluated using the Design
for Health Comprehensive Plan Review Checklist.
4) Water Management: The development plan provides the first known example of a new community that has established a comprehensive
water budget and the concept of water balance. The new community will use innovations in rainwater harvesting, green stormwater
management and groundwater recharge, water-conserving fixtures, innovative irrigation, and native plant use to ensure that total water
use is equal to the amount of water naturally falling on the property in the form of precipitation. Groundwater reserves will only be used
during years of extreme drought. The recommended water system enhances surface water, preserves groundwater and uses passive
gravity-based conveyance to reduce operational and maintenance costs. The total runoff volume from the property to streams located
on-site and nearby will not exceed the pre-settlement levels of runoff volume. The new community will maintain sustainable water
temperatures to prevent the warming of waters in adjacent streams and will thereby reduce impacts on trout populations.
5) Urban Wildlife Plan: From the outset the master plan established an urban wildlife plan and specific measurable targets for increasing the
presence of native species, including the re-introduction of species no longer found as a result of the past century’s conversion of the
region to agricultural land and suburban development. The UMore Park property is pivotal to the enhancement of biological and
ecological systems throughout the region due to its central location within a three-mile radius of ten disconnected, protected natural
lands totaling over 9,000 acres. In addition, Vermillion Highlands, a research, recreation, and wildlife management area of 2,822 acres, is
adjacent to the southern edge of the property.
6) Parks, Open Space and Landscape: The plan provides an extensive park and open space system that exceeds the standards of local
jurisdictions and the National Recreation and Parks Association. A calorie budget developed for the new community seeks to provide
seven percent of the food needs of future residents through urban agriculture initiatives such as community gardens.
7) Landscape Renewal and Interpretation: Although the federal government has razed many of the buildings remaining from the World War II
munitions manufacturing, 800 structures containing 263,000 tons of concrete remain on the property. Investigations in 2002 and 2006
found that contamination requiring substantial cleanup efforts exists on roughly a third of the site. The phasing of development in the
new community calls for initial new construction on non-contaminated lands to provide sufficient time for the cleanup of other areas of
the property. The master plan retains visually significant structures and incorporates them into the landscape narrative of the project.
8) Regional Contributions: One overarching principle that guided the planning of this site was the aspiration to contribute not only to the well-being
of the future residents of this new community, but also to contribute to the neighboring communities and the larger metropolitan
area. A financial analysis concluded that the job creation, tax generation and significant gravel resources would provide financial benefits
to the region that far surpassed the costs that would be incurred by local governments. In addition, the community design is informed by
the intense study of the best of the built environment in Minnesota, to create a place that fits the context and expresses the local
vernacular.
Imag
01: Si
UMo
a new
nearb
that h
distric
and n
02: Si
The p
Unive
with a
Tradi
aggre
03: Pl
Input
edited
the pr
04: M
The p
comm
welln
05: M
Altho
Wildl
comm
06: W
The m
These
ge Description
ite Context
ore Park is loca
w community; o
by communitie
has rapidly occ
cts of the town
natural environ
ite History and
property has un
ersity research
aggregate mini
itional McHarg
egate mining op
lan Evolution
t from student
d to four altern
referred plan.
Master Plan
plan aims to cr
mercial and ret
ness, and sustai
Metrics
ough the plan f
life Foundation
munity, and art
Water Concept
master plan mi
e systems cont
ns
ated 25 miles so
on the edge of
s provide conv
curred in the su
ns. This create
nment to create
d Evolving Eco
ndergone majo
and offices fo
ing that will oc
gian analysis pr
perations. The
s, faculty, and
natives. Each w
reate a balance
tail, office and
inability.
for UMore Par
n certification,
t.
imics natural w
tribute to a wat
outh of the Tw
f the growing c
venient access
urrounding com
s a challenge fo
e a fitting and u
onomics
or transitions in
or extension pr
ccur across nea
rovides little us
challenge, the
the public info
was evaluated
of jobs and ho
Eco-Industrial
rk easily meets
the planning e
water cycles by
ter budget that
win Cities and t
cities and town
to regional sho
mmunities lack
for the new com
unique charact
n the past cent
rograms. Durin
arly the entire 5
se to the plann
erefore, is to en
ormed the con
based upon ec
ousing for 30,0
l uses, various
the requireme
effort went bey
using “green”
t uses no more
the University’
ns including Ro
opping and co
ks the quality a
mmunity at UM
ter.
tury from prair
ng the next alte
5,000-acre site.
ning effort, giv
nvision the typ
nsultant brainst
conomic, envir
000 residents.
transportation
ents of LEED
yond environm
stormwater te
e water than th
’s main campu
osemount, Lak
ommunity amen
and small-town
More Park to d
rie to farmland
eration, the new
.
ven the magnitu
pe of environm
torming of thir
ronmental, com
It provides fo
n modes, and e
ND, Audubon
mental metrics
echniques to en
he amount that
us. This locatio
keville, Apple V
nities. Howeve
n character tha
draw inspiratio
d and from mu
w community
ude of the site
ment desired aft
rty scenarios. T
mmunity, and a
or open space a
emphases on e
n Sanctuary co
to include issu
nhance water i
t naturally falls
on is ideal for t
Valley, and Far
er, the recent d
t is evident in
on from the sur
unitions manuf
will take form
modification m
ter the mining
These were com
artistic objectiv
amenities, neig
ducation, healt
ommunities, an
ues of econom
infiltration and
on the site.
the creation of
rmington. The
development
the older
rrounding buil
facturing to
concurrently
mandated by
activities.
mbined and
ves to arrive at
ghborhood
th and
nd National
mics,
d storage.
f
e
lt
t
07: Energy and Carbon
The master plan establishes energy efficiencies and clean energy strategies including wind-powered electricity generation and
combined heat and power systems fueled with biogas. The development is intended to utilize all renewable energy and completely
offset its small carbon footprint.
08: Alternative Transportation
Joint planning with regional authorities has led to the discussion of dedication of light rail and bus rapid transit lines to the new
community. The community design directs density to the transit stop locations and provides for transportation efficiencies through
the design of walkways, trails, bikeways, and personal electric vehicle routes.
09: Urban Wildlife
The master plan involved extensive ecological and biological planning to ensure that the site provides habitat and travel corridors
leading to the enhancement and reestablishment of wildlife. A communitywide urban wildlife plan establishes a positive interface
between nature and development.
10: Parks, Open Space and Landscape
The master plan designates about 1,000 of the nearly 5,000 acres of UMore Park for open space and parks. The 2,822- acre
Vermillion Highlands property, located adjacent to the southern boundary, provides significant natural areas and an unequalled
complement to the community.
11: Community Facilities
The master plan ensures a comprehensive approach to community creation by providing specific plans for facilities, services, job
creation, education programming, foods, health and wellness, technology infrastructure, and recreation.
12: Arts and Culture
In addition to the traditional sustainable development considerations of economics, environment, and community, the planning
effort has considered the arts from the outset. A community arts and culture plan is a component of the overall development
strategy.
13: Governance and Implementation
The master plan is both a two dimensional land plan and a three dimensional urban design plan. The planners established a
comprehensive Pattern Book to guide the form and character of the new community including the neighborhood character,
architecture, and landscape.

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1
Colorado ASLA Awards 2009
Category 2: Planning
Project Name: UMore Park: A Sustainable Master Planned Community
Project Location: City of Rosemount and Empire Township, Minnesota
Project Summary
The University of Minnesota is currently undertaking the largest new community development in Minnesota history on the UMore Park
property, a 5,000-acre site located 25 miles southeast of the Twin Cities. This development master plan transforms a Brownfield site and
mining operation into a sustainable community. The plan goes beyond LEED ND® to become the first of its kind to be based upon
comprehensive budgets for water, energy, carbon and wildlife, as well as metrics for community, economic and cultural factors.
Purpose of the Project
Suburban development surrounds this Brownfield site that has been nearly vacant since the University obtained it from the U.S. War
Department 60 years ago. With declining state funding, universities are turning to the monetization of their land assets to fund their
mission. University of Minnesota officials now seek to maximize and monetize the real estate value of the property in order to fund the
University’s endowment. The UMore Park Concept Master Plan creates the framework for a community of 30,000 residents with an equal
balance of job opportunities—a substantial development in Minnesota history. It will serve as a national model for how to plan for a
sustainable new community and hold the development accountable to meet high aspirations.
The plan communicates for the first time the intentions of the University to develop this property. The Board of University Regents
unanimously adopted the Concept Master Plan and a few short months afterwards used the plan to attract a gravel extraction company
partner. The Concept Master Plan is also used to attract future development partners, entice business incubation, encourage and inform
University student and faculty research and projects, and inform local and regional plans. The planning team advised the University on
alternative methods for managing the development process resulting in the University Board of Trustees considering the creation of a
wholly-owned development corporation. The landscape architecture team led the creation of a Pattern Book to guide the development of
the community over a long period of time. The Pattern Book detailed recommendations for the implementation and management of
community objectives such as neighborhood and block patterns, streetscape design, architectural design, energy and green building
initiatives, wildlife management and stormwater design.
Role and Responsibilities of the Landscape Architect
The client was initially seeking a development partner through an RFP process to undertake the pre-development phase on behalf of the
University. The landscape architects alternatively proposed to take on the role of advising the University. The landscape architect’s
leadership and collaboration provided the University three considerable advantages; 1) greater leveraging of the real estate development to
fund its academic mission, 2) education and preparation for the University to act as developer, and 3) retention of oversight of the
development ensured the University the highest integrity and adherence their principles. This approach represents a groundbreaking effort
on the part of a major educational institution in planning a new community and significantly advances the role of landscape architects in
large-scale planning and development efforts. The landscape architects directed a team of architects, planners, engineers, ecologists, market
analysts, attorneys, transportation specialists, and energy experts through the planning, design, organizational structuring, and financial
assessment.
The landscape architects faced major challenges in creating the master plan for this new community due in part to the challenges of the site
development as well as the University’s complex decision-making process. In the 60 years the University has owned the property, it has not
resolved two questions: Should the land be developed? And, if so, what should a prospective development plan entail? Within eight months
of beginning the project, the landscape architects led University officials through a decision-making process to determine the importance of
developing the property and the feasibility of creating a for-profit development entity. Within that time, the client and landscape architects
imagined 30 development scenarios and engaged one-thousand individuals and 215 different constituent groups in the evaluation of
alternatives; gaining support for the final concept master plan. The graphical exhibits and analyses produced were instrumental in helping
the public and the University form a vision for the new community and reach consensus surrounding a plan after only a few months of
effort.
Design Solutions and Other Unique Attributes
Valuable aggregate resources were identified throughout 70 percent of the property in early 2008, resulting in a decision to conduct gravel
mining operations that would drastically alter virtually the entire site. The landscape architects faced a unique problem of envisioning future
environmental conditions that would be created by the gravel mining activities. The extraction of aggregate resources on the 5,000-acre site
will span 50 years and will reshape the relatively flat terrain into a series of rolling hills and lakes of up to 70-feet in depth. The landscape
architect’s design solution included the creation of an end-use plan for developing the land following the completion of aggregate mining.
This information will guide the University’s planning for mining activities and provides instruction for contouring the land for future
development, including the creation of drainage patterns, wildlife corridors and scenic viewsheds. The grading plan for the property
provides for the preservation of existing forests, areas of high quality agricultural soils, wildlife corridors and the remains of iconic
structures on the property.
2
Significance
The UMore Park master plan addresses a broad range of sustainability elements in a comprehensive and holistic manner, providing a
national model for new communities. Thorough and clear documentation of the project approach and strategies in the Master Plan Book
and Pattern Book can serve as a guide to other developers, communities, and designers that wish to achieve similar goals as this project.
The plan emphasizes that in order to seek sustainability it is necessary to stretch beyond the highest green building and neighborhood
design standards and specifically ensure the following:
1) Alternative Transit: The creation of the UMore Park master plan induced the regional transportation authority in the Twin Cities to
consider extending a planned light rail line by approximately ten miles to service the site and to add three additional light rail stops to
serve the future community. In addition, regional bus rapid transit will serve the new community. Compact, mixed-use centers are
oriented around these future transit stations, promoting greater densities than could be traditionally supported without transit. The plan
also proposes an extensive bike and pedestrian circulation system and a community-wide system for neighborhood electric and human
transport vehicles.
2) Energy and Carbon: The UMore Park project provides the first known example in the United States of a new community creating an
energy and carbon budget and a comprehensive strategy for reducing energy use and carbon generation from the outset of the
development. Key features of the system include the generation of all of the electrical needs of the community on-site through clean and
renewable energy technologies such as wind power facilities, the incorporation of solar hot water photovoltaics in architectural design,
and a combined heat and power (CHP) plant fueled with biogas (fueled by on-site agricultural residue and sewage). Ground source heat
pumps (GSHPs) provide a more efficient heating and cooling system than traditional sources such as natural gas. This strategy seeks to
reduce the carbon footprint for commercial and residential uses to zero. At build-out, the new community will generate overall carbon
emissions representing only three percent of the emissions levels produced using traditional development and building practices.
3) Community Amenities: The community is organized into several interconnected, walkable neighborhoods. Each neighborhood locates
residents within convenient walking distance of a variety of amenities such as neighborhood schools and parks, shops and services,
places of worship, civic centers, daycare centers, places of higher education, libraries and learning centers, health and wellness centers,
hospitals and clinics, police stations, and community gardens. The community design and urban planning was evaluated using the Design
for Health Comprehensive Plan Review Checklist.
4) Water Management: The development plan provides the first known example of a new community that has established a comprehensive
water budget and the concept of water balance. The new community will use innovations in rainwater harvesting, green stormwater
management and groundwater recharge, water-conserving fixtures, innovative irrigation, and native plant use to ensure that total water
use is equal to the amount of water naturally falling on the property in the form of precipitation. Groundwater reserves will only be used
during years of extreme drought. The recommended water system enhances surface water, preserves groundwater and uses passive
gravity-based conveyance to reduce operational and maintenance costs. The total runoff volume from the property to streams located
on-site and nearby will not exceed the pre-settlement levels of runoff volume. The new community will maintain sustainable water
temperatures to prevent the warming of waters in adjacent streams and will thereby reduce impacts on trout populations.
5) Urban Wildlife Plan: From the outset the master plan established an urban wildlife plan and specific measurable targets for increasing the
presence of native species, including the re-introduction of species no longer found as a result of the past century’s conversion of the
region to agricultural land and suburban development. The UMore Park property is pivotal to the enhancement of biological and
ecological systems throughout the region due to its central location within a three-mile radius of ten disconnected, protected natural
lands totaling over 9,000 acres. In addition, Vermillion Highlands, a research, recreation, and wildlife management area of 2,822 acres, is
adjacent to the southern edge of the property.
6) Parks, Open Space and Landscape: The plan provides an extensive park and open space system that exceeds the standards of local
jurisdictions and the National Recreation and Parks Association. A calorie budget developed for the new community seeks to provide
seven percent of the food needs of future residents through urban agriculture initiatives such as community gardens.
7) Landscape Renewal and Interpretation: Although the federal government has razed many of the buildings remaining from the World War II
munitions manufacturing, 800 structures containing 263,000 tons of concrete remain on the property. Investigations in 2002 and 2006
found that contamination requiring substantial cleanup efforts exists on roughly a third of the site. The phasing of development in the
new community calls for initial new construction on non-contaminated lands to provide sufficient time for the cleanup of other areas of
the property. The master plan retains visually significant structures and incorporates them into the landscape narrative of the project.
8) Regional Contributions: One overarching principle that guided the planning of this site was the aspiration to contribute not only to the well-being
of the future residents of this new community, but also to contribute to the neighboring communities and the larger metropolitan
area. A financial analysis concluded that the job creation, tax generation and significant gravel resources would provide financial benefits
to the region that far surpassed the costs that would be incurred by local governments. In addition, the community design is informed by
the intense study of the best of the built environment in Minnesota, to create a place that fits the context and expresses the local
vernacular.
Imag
01: Si
UMo
a new
nearb
that h
distric
and n
02: Si
The p
Unive
with a
Tradi
aggre
03: Pl
Input
edited
the pr
04: M
The p
comm
welln
05: M
Altho
Wildl
comm
06: W
The m
These
ge Description
ite Context
ore Park is loca
w community; o
by communitie
has rapidly occ
cts of the town
natural environ
ite History and
property has un
ersity research
aggregate mini
itional McHarg
egate mining op
lan Evolution
t from student
d to four altern
referred plan.
Master Plan
plan aims to cr
mercial and ret
ness, and sustai
Metrics
ough the plan f
life Foundation
munity, and art
Water Concept
master plan mi
e systems cont
ns
ated 25 miles so
on the edge of
s provide conv
curred in the su
ns. This create
nment to create
d Evolving Eco
ndergone majo
and offices fo
ing that will oc
gian analysis pr
perations. The
s, faculty, and
natives. Each w
reate a balance
tail, office and
inability.
for UMore Par
n certification,
t.
imics natural w
tribute to a wat
outh of the Tw
f the growing c
venient access
urrounding com
s a challenge fo
e a fitting and u
onomics
or transitions in
or extension pr
ccur across nea
rovides little us
challenge, the
the public info
was evaluated
of jobs and ho
Eco-Industrial
rk easily meets
the planning e
water cycles by
ter budget that
win Cities and t
cities and town
to regional sho
mmunities lack
for the new com
unique charact
n the past cent
rograms. Durin
arly the entire 5
se to the plann
erefore, is to en
ormed the con
based upon ec
ousing for 30,0
l uses, various
the requireme
effort went bey
using “green”
t uses no more
the University’
ns including Ro
opping and co
ks the quality a
mmunity at UM
ter.
tury from prair
ng the next alte
5,000-acre site.
ning effort, giv
nvision the typ
nsultant brainst
conomic, envir
000 residents.
transportation
ents of LEED
yond environm
stormwater te
e water than th
’s main campu
osemount, Lak
ommunity amen
and small-town
More Park to d
rie to farmland
eration, the new
.
ven the magnitu
pe of environm
torming of thir
ronmental, com
It provides fo
n modes, and e
ND, Audubon
mental metrics
echniques to en
he amount that
us. This locatio
keville, Apple V
nities. Howeve
n character tha
draw inspiratio
d and from mu
w community
ude of the site
ment desired aft
rty scenarios. T
mmunity, and a
or open space a
emphases on e
n Sanctuary co
to include issu
nhance water i
t naturally falls
on is ideal for t
Valley, and Far
er, the recent d
t is evident in
on from the sur
unitions manuf
will take form
modification m
ter the mining
These were com
artistic objectiv
amenities, neig
ducation, healt
ommunities, an
ues of econom
infiltration and
on the site.
the creation of
rmington. The
development
the older
rrounding buil
facturing to
concurrently
mandated by
activities.
mbined and
ves to arrive at
ghborhood
th and
nd National
mics,
d storage.
f
e
lt
t
07: Energy and Carbon
The master plan establishes energy efficiencies and clean energy strategies including wind-powered electricity generation and
combined heat and power systems fueled with biogas. The development is intended to utilize all renewable energy and completely
offset its small carbon footprint.
08: Alternative Transportation
Joint planning with regional authorities has led to the discussion of dedication of light rail and bus rapid transit lines to the new
community. The community design directs density to the transit stop locations and provides for transportation efficiencies through
the design of walkways, trails, bikeways, and personal electric vehicle routes.
09: Urban Wildlife
The master plan involved extensive ecological and biological planning to ensure that the site provides habitat and travel corridors
leading to the enhancement and reestablishment of wildlife. A communitywide urban wildlife plan establishes a positive interface
between nature and development.
10: Parks, Open Space and Landscape
The master plan designates about 1,000 of the nearly 5,000 acres of UMore Park for open space and parks. The 2,822- acre
Vermillion Highlands property, located adjacent to the southern boundary, provides significant natural areas and an unequalled
complement to the community.
11: Community Facilities
The master plan ensures a comprehensive approach to community creation by providing specific plans for facilities, services, job
creation, education programming, foods, health and wellness, technology infrastructure, and recreation.
12: Arts and Culture
In addition to the traditional sustainable development considerations of economics, environment, and community, the planning
effort has considered the arts from the outset. A community arts and culture plan is a component of the overall development
strategy.
13: Governance and Implementation
The master plan is both a two dimensional land plan and a three dimensional urban design plan. The planners established a
comprehensive Pattern Book to guide the form and character of the new community including the neighborhood character,
architecture, and landscape.